In the Northern Irish town of Portadown yesterday evening, police were attacked with Molotov cocktails, petrol bombs, stones and fireworks, a Reuters witness quoted by BTA said, as the fourth night of anti-immigrant violence spread to another part of the British-ruled province.
The violence first flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court charged with aggravated sexual assault of a teenage girl. The charges were read through a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court they denied the charge, the BBC reported.
One of a number of anti-immigrant protests on Thursday was held in Portadown, 50km from the capital Belfast. A major police operation involving riot police and armoured vans closed a number of roads in advance.
Litter was strewn on the streets and bins were set on fire.
Other protests passed off without serious incident, including in Ballymena, the main focus of the first two nights of more intense violence, local media reported.
Paul Frew, the member of the regional assembly for Ballymena, said that while some people had gathered again on the streets amid a heavy police presence, it had been much quieter and that heavy rain had helped to keep people away from the protest.